Like a Duck to Water
by starspangledpumpkin
Summary: Written for 'Weekly Challenge - #1, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. Prompt #2: James stormed into the Great Hall, his angry eyes roving over the students, looking for the culprit who'd made him look like a complete fool in front of Lily Evans.


**I've never been invited to a writer's forum before! I was so excited I couldn't help but start right away!**

 **Written for 'Weekly Challenge - #1, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'**

 **Prompt # 2: James stormed into the Great Hall, his angry eyes roving over the students, looking for the culprit who'd made him look like a complete fool in front of Lily Evans.**

Today was the day. Today was the day that James Potter was finally going to get Lily Evans to go out with him on a date.

Okay… so maybe he said that yesterday. And the day before that. And the weekend before that…

But James Potter was nothing if not tenacious!

Oh, he tried to get over her on the advice of Remus. That backing away might make her more receptive or some sort of stuff like that. But with any girl he tried dating it just didn't feel right. They didn't give him that 'Wow' moment he got when he first saw Lily. With her fiery hair and piercing green eyes. Her sharp wit and the ability to make him feel humble (even if he never showed it). He liked how she tried to see the best in everyone.

Even in that creep Severus Snape.

James never understood what Lily saw in that guy. He always gave the sort of vibe that said, "I shoot stinging hexes at puppies and poison guppies for fun."

Still, they were both in sixth year and it was time for them to grow up.

 _He,_ himself, needed to grow up. He could finally admit that he wasn't guiltless. He was a bully and an ass but there was time to change that. He could become somebody worthy of Lily Evans. Well… nobody was worthy of Lily Evans but he could try and come close.

That meant being nicer to first years. No more hexing people for jokes. Taking classes seriously. Those sorts of things.

He still couldn't stand Severus Snape and those people he hung around that were part of some stupid, "secret" society that was all about blood purity. Pure-blood is a stupid label and didn't mean anything. What you did with magic and how you were as a person is what defined you.

What people did as human beings is was Lily Evans believed defined you.

But back to the matter at hand.

James popped a peppermint drop in his mouth to calm his nerves. While he always played cool around Lily, the fact of the matter was that she made his knees weak and he wanted to follow her around like a puppy dog. If she said "jump" then he would ask "how high?".

Lily came down the hall with her friend Mary. They were both chatting and laughing about something or other which he would have loved to join in.

"Afternoon, Evans. Need an escort to dinner?" he called. Immediately, his hand flew over his mouth.

Lily and Mary paused and looked at him curiously.

"Potter," said Lily in that sweet voice of hers that rose and fell musically like a brook in the woods. "What was that noise you just made?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he said. Indeed, his voice had changed. It was now higher-pitched and raspy. What's worse was that he couldn't pronounce all of his consonants properly.

Lily and Mary erupted into peals of laughter.

"Y-you sound like Donald Duck!" Lily howled and fell against her friend.

"Donald Duck?" He sounded like a duck?

Growing embarrassed, James ran off. Embarrassment grew into anger.

He stormed into the Great Hall, his angry eyes roving over the students, looking for the culprit who'd made him look like a complete fool in front of Lily Evans. He finally found Sirius, Remus, and Peter all sitting in their usual spot and eating.

Of course.

Who else would pull something like this?

James strode over and pushed Sirius, making him knock over his goblet.

"What the hell?" he shouted.

"You son of a bitch!" he shouted. "You made me look like a fool in front of Lily."

Sirius's eyes bugged out of his head and he choked on his roasted chicken. He barked out laughter and pounded his fist against the table.

"Sorry, bruv," he howled. "Not my handy work!"

"What?" he quacked. "What do you mean this isn't you? Who else would make me look like an idiot?"

"You don't need me to make you look like an idiot," said Sirius smoothly.

"Damn right I don't— wait—" he let out a string of incoherent curses and sputtering.

Remus snickered into his pumpkin juice.

James remained steadfast in his belief that it was Sirius who made him sound like Donald Duck (whoever that was) for the rest of the evening. Lily called him 'Donald' for the rest of the week which gave him no opportunities to bounce back and make an ass of himself in some different way.

He vowed to get back at Sirius.

Next week, Sirius woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed. He hadn't slept so well in a while and he could hardly complain about how he obviously missed first period judging by the amount of sun he was getting.

Slowly opening his eyes, Sirius saw a blue sky rather than the scarlet hangings in his Common Room. He looked to his right and saw Hogwarts Castle.

Abruptly sitting up was a bad idea because it caused lake water to rush into his lap.

Somehow, during the night, he had ended up sailing in the middle of the lake on a mattress.

"JAMES!" he roared as he tipped over.

Sirius stormed into the Great Hall dripping wet in his pajamas leaving a long trail of water in his wake. He snapped his sleeve getting water on his best friend's head.

"What happened to you?" James asked incredulously.

"Oh, like you don't know how my bed ended up in the Great Lake!"

"No, I don't," he said. "When I saw I was going to get back at you I was thinking more along the lines of replacing your pomade with cool whip." He broke into a grin. "This is so much better!"

"Oh, is it?!"

Why the two friends bickered, Remus sipped his tea and shot a wink at Peter who helped him move Sirius's bed out of the window and into the Great Lake.


End file.
